I love when a first comes together, without me planning it out beforehand. These spontaneous firsts are often the most fun. Today was no exception! I had intended to attend the Fourth Friday Artwalk in Carthage MO this evening. However, I realized this morning that that event took place last Friday! With my trip, I lost count of the Fridays. No worries. I had several backup firsts ready to go.
This afternoon, though, I had plans. My grandson, Dayan, got out of school early and I seized the opportunity to pick him up and hang out. I always enjoy being with Dayan. He’s 15 years old and growing up so fast. It won’t be long before he’s off to college. I want to make the most of each moment spent with him. We grabbed a snack and camped out at his house. We chatted and caught up on news and I watched him create a new section of a virtual city in a computer game that he loves. Dayan holds me accountable for daily firsts, and when I explained about my Fourth Friday mistake, we declared today Fifth Friday.
When my phone battery dropped to less than 10% power, I moved out to my car to recharge for a few minutes. Dayan good naturedly joined me in the car. I asked about an art project he’s working on for school and he brought out his Thinkpad Chromebook that his high school has provided for each student this year. After I admired his digital artwork, Dayan showed me the cool camera app on his Chromebook and the filters that can be used to create unique photos. That’s when the fun showed up in Fifth Friday!
We laughed so much as we played with the camera and filters. There were filters that made our eyes huge, created a carnival glass effect and squared off our jaws. We could look alien-like with huge heads and tiny faces, and there was a bunny look that made the mouth really small. Most of these filters only worked on one person at a time. By moving our heads toward each other on the computer screen, the effect would jump to the other person. Any neighbors that looked toward my car had to wonder what was so hilarious!
We discovered at least four effects that we could do together and captured those moments as my first today. Here they are:
This colorful filter is called Modern.
This one is Ghost and is a very cool effect. When you move on the screen, there is a delayed response, which creates a “ghost” image that appears by the next image. We had way too much fun with this one. Dayan loves it because by turning his head around quickly and then looking back at the screen, he can see what the back of his head looks like.
Called Funky, this filter creates a comic book art effect. It really calls for a white conversation bubble above our heads with the word POW in it!
This one was my favorite. With our green skin tones, I decided we looked like relatives of the character Elphaba, also known as the wicked witch, from the musical Wicked.
I so appreciate Dayan for sharing new technology with me today. And for entering into the fun. A heartfelt laugh really does do the body good. And when that laughter is shared, it creates more than mirth, it creates joy and in this case, wonderful memories.
Going Beyond 